AP interviewed a former cop who prepared Baltimore's use of force guidelines (Baltimore just happens to be one of the most violent-crime-ridden cities in the country). He says it's standard procedure what the UC Davis cops did to the passive protesters there, pepper spraying them in the face, instead of just arresting them, for simply sitting peacefully on a sidewalk. In fact, he says they could have beaten the protesters with batons too, for simply moving an arm or crawling up in a ball. First his comments, then a few words:
Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters.Yes, curling up in a ball means the cops get to beat the crap out of you.
"When you start picking up human bodies, you risk hurting them," Kelly said. "Bodies don't have handles on them."
After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.
"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.
First off, we know the problem of police brutality against Occupy Wall Street protesters isn't limited to UC Davis. It's been happening around the country. So it's no surprise that other police forces think it's a-okay what UC Davis did. That is simply more evidence of a nationwide problem.
Second, note how the cop contradicts himself in an effort to defend the UC Davis police. He says that "you risk hurting" people who are sitting down when you lift them to arrest them. So, it's better to pepper spray them in the face first and then lift them to arrest them anyway? That doesn't even make any sense. He goes on to suggest that they several of the students, including a young woman, deserved to be beaten with batons too, then lifted and arrested.
Are you seeing the larger problem here? We have a nationwide problem with police violence in this country, as evidence by this officer condoning the violence used in UC Davis, and suggesting the cops should have beaten a co ed to boot. Disturbingly similar response by police force after police force in city after city to peaceful protesters. So should we really be surprised that the AP found one cop in a crime ridden city who thinks the kids should have beaten too?
Just because lots of cop agree to the violence doesn't mean the violence was justified. It could also mean that we have a nationwide problem of cops who think unnecessary violence is a-okay.
PS AP repeats the UC Davis' police lie, about needing to use pepper spray to escape the seated students who had encircled them.
"The students had encircled the officers," she said Saturday. "They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out."What a lie.
As I explained yesterday, with video and photo evidence, the cops didn't need to use the pepper spray in order to exit the circle of seated students. We know this because the cop who used the pepper spray simply stepped over the student circle and then pepper sprayed everyone in the face from outside the circle. He clearly didn't need to pepper spray the students in order to exit if he already exited first in order to better pepper spray them.
It's a lie. And sadly, from my experience working on crime issues in the past, I've seen lots of official lies come from police forces and cities. They think no one would dare challenge their lies, and they're wrong. The police were "unable to get out" except the cop who got out quite easily and attacked peaceful students.
